RAFAEL Nadal’s form is hardly that of a man trying to make tennis history but he had an excuse as he struggled through to the French Open quarter-finals – he was playing against two men.

There was Fabio Fognini the brilliant and Fabio Fognini the blunderer. Even the Italian never knew who was stepping up to play the next shot, let alone Nadal.

After his blast at the organisers for their scheduling, which saw him playing on Friday for nearly three hours because of a rain-delayed match, Nadal looked set for another afternoon of irritation after being broken early in the first set.

Fognini was hitting explosive winners on both sides, threw in a drop shot for the hell of it, and was moving well on the Phillipe Chatrier court, until his twin brother showed up – and he doesn’t play as well.

He put more into the net than your average fisherman and then, having survived three break points and six deuces to hold his serve, the good Fognini arrived to break Nadal to make it 6-5.

Serving for the set, which would have been the third Nadal has dropped this week, the blunderer took over again and lost the game and then the tie-break.

Much to admire, much to despair of, but no way back for once Nadal has the incentive, he is lethal. But for him there is a lot of work to do to find the form that could make him the first man to win eight times at a Grand Slam event.

Fognini continued to swing between brilliance and ordinary. If he ever discovers the meaning of consistency, his alter ego is redundant and his ranking will jump from 29.

Naturally Nadal served for the match at 5-2 in the third set and was broken by Fognini, who delighted the crowd with his mercurial ways. But ten minutes later Nadal was walking off with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

He now faces Ken Nishikori, the 13th seed, and the Japanese player, while not as flamboyant as Fognini, will provide a far more dangerous test if Nadal continues in this form.

Nishikori has only reached the quarters in a Grand Slam once, a year ago in Australia when he lost to Andy Murray, who is back in London practising again on grass after pulling out of the Roland Garros event with a back strain.

Nadal said: “If I want to have any chance I really need to play better.

“I am very happy to be through. We should not delude ourselves, if I can calm down I will play better or I can go back to Mallorca and go fishing.”

Nadal plays a forehand against Fabio Fognini

If I want to have any chance I really need to play better

Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic looks the form player as he despatched rising star Grigor Dimitrov.

The young Bulgarian went down tamely 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in what was expected to be the match of the day.

That accolade went to the battle between 35-year-old Tommy Haas and John Isner which saw the German squander 12 match points and a two-set lead and survive a match point against him before finally clinching it 7-5, 7-6,4-6, 6-7, 10-8 in four hours 37 minutes.

Janko Tipsarevic, the No8 seed, left the tournament after an F-word rant at two fans he said were taunting him. The Serbian player lost to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny, ranked 21 places below, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Dominic Inglot, 27, from Essex, is the last Brit standing after he and Treat Huey from the Phillipines fought their way into the last 32 of the men’s doubles.